About the Author Mike Wells is an author of both walking and cycling guides. He has been walking long-distance footpaths for 25 years, after a holiday in New Zealand gave him the long-distance walking bug. Within a few years, he had walked the major British trails, enjoying their range of terrain from straightforward downland tracks through to upland paths and challenging CYCLING THE CAMINO DE mountain routes. He then ventured into France, walking sections of the Grande Randonnée network (including the GR5 through the Alps from SANTIAGO Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean), and Italy to explore the Dolomites Alta Via routes. Further afield, he has walked in Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, THE WAY OF ST JAMES – CAMINO FRANCÉS Norway and Patagonia. Mike has also been a keen cyclist for over 20 years. After completing by Mike Wells various UK Sustrans routes, such as Lôn Las Cymru in Wales and the C2C route across northern England, he then moved on to cycling long-distance routes in continental Europe and beyond. These include cycling both the Camino and Ruta de la Plata to Santiago de la Compostela, a traverse of Cuba from end to end, a circumnavigation of Iceland and a trip across Lapland to the North Cape. He has written a series of cycling guides for Cicerone following the great rivers of Europe.

Other Cicerone guides by the author The Adlerweg The Danube Cycleway Volume 2 The Rhine Cycle Route The River Rhone Cycle Route The Moselle Cycle Route The Loire Cycle Route The Danube Cycleway Volume 1 Cycling London to Paris JUNIPER HOUSE, MURLEY MOSS, OXENHOLME ROAD, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA9 7RL www.cicerone.co.uk © Mike Wells 2019 First edition 2019 CONTENTS ISBN: 978 1 85284 969 6 Map key...... 8 Printed in China on behalf of Latitude Press Ltd Overview map...... 9 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Route summary table...... 10–11 All photographs are by the author unless otherwise stated. INTRODUCTION ...... 13 Route mapping by Lovell Johns www.lovelljohns.com History...... 15 Contains OpenStreetMap.org data © OpenStreetMap The Camino...... 19 contributors, CC-BY-SA. NASA relief data courtesy of ESRI The routes...... 23 Natural environment ...... 25 Preparation...... 26 Pilgrim credentials and information...... 28 Getting there and back...... 29 Updates to this Guide Navigation...... 32 While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of guide- Accommodation...... 34 books as they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime of an edi- Food and drink...... 36 tion. Any updates that we know of for this guide will be on the Cicerone Amenities and services...... 40 website (www.cicerone.co.uk/969/updates), so please check before plan- What to take...... 42 ning your trip. We also advise that you check information about such Safety and emergencies ...... 43 things as transport, accommodation and shops locally. Even rights of way About this guide...... 46 can be altered over time. The route maps in this guide are derived from publicly available data, THE ROUTE...... 49 databases and crowd-sourced data. As such they have not been through and La Rioja the detailed checking procedures that would generally be applied to a pub- Stage 1 St Jean-Pied-de-Port to ...... 50 lished map from an official mapping agency, although naturally we have Stage 2 Roncesvalles to Pamplona...... 58 reviewed them closely in the light of local knowledge as part of the prepa- Stage 3 Pamplona to Estella...... 69 ration of this guide. Stage 4 Estella to Logroño...... 81 We are always grateful for information about any discrepancies Stage 5 Logroño to Santo Domingo de la Calzada...... 93 between a guidebook and the facts on the ground, sent by email to León y Castile [email protected] or by post to Cicerone, Juniper House, Murley Stage 6 Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Villafranca Montes de Oca. . . 105 Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal, LA9 7RL. Stage 7 Villafranca Montes de Oca to Burgos ...... 113 Register your book: To sign up to receive free updates, special offers Stage 8 Burgos to Castrojeriz...... 123 and GPX files where available, register your book at www.cicerone.co.uk. Stage 9 Castrojeriz to Carrión de los Condes...... 132 Stage 10 Carrión de los Condes to Sahagún...... 141 Stage 11 Sahagún to León...... 148 Front cover: The Alto del Perdón, where ‘the path of the wind crosses that of the Stage 12 León to Astorga...... 160 stars’ (Stage 3) Stage 13 Astorga to Ponferrada ...... 172 Stage 14 Ponferrada to O Cebreiro ...... 182 Galicia Stage 15 O Cebreiro to Sarria ...... 194 Stage 16 Sarria to Palas de Rei...... 203 Stage 17 Palas de Rei to Arzúa...... 213 Stage 18 Arzúa to Santiago de Compostela...... 221

Appendix A Facilities summary table...... 232 Appendix B Tourist information offices ...... 246 Appendix C Cycle shops...... 249 Appendix D Pilgrim information...... 254 Appendix E Useful contacts...... 255 Appendix F Language glossary ...... 256 Appendix G Spanish architectural styles...... 257

Santa María church in Viana (Stage 4) Cycling the Camino de Santiago Overview map

Symbols used on maps FRANCE

-de-Port St Jean-Pied 1 Bayonne camino route Pamplona Relief 2 road route in metres Navarre 3 dashed line indicates concurrent routes 2000–2200 Biarritz

alternative routes 1800–2000 4

route direction Logroño 1600–1800 Basque 100km start point 1400–1600 La Rioja finish point 5 1200–1400 Bilbao

start/finish point 1000–1200 N 6 woodland 800–1000 7

urban areas 600–800 0 Santander regional border Burgos

400–600 Bay of Biscay 8 international border 200–400 Cantabria station/railway 0–200 9 peak SPAIN meseta

church/chapel !

cathedral/monastery Castile y León cross #

castle León Cantabrian mountains $ Oviedo

monument Asturias pass airport % tourist office

pilgrim information office & battlefield Ponferrada ( point of interest )

SCALE: 1:100,000 * Galicia 0 kilometres 1 2 Stage maps are at a scale of 1:100,000 +

Urban maps are at a scale of 1:40,000 PORTUGAL 0 miles 1 La Coruña Santiago de GPX files for all routes can be downloaded free at www.cicerone.co.uk/969/GPX. Compostela The Camino de Santiago – Francés The to Santiago de Compostela St Jean-Pied-de-Port

8 9 Cycling the Camino de Santiago Route summary table ROUTE SUMMARY TABLE

Stage Start Finish Camino route Road route Page

Distance Ascent Descent Distance Ascent Descent (km) (m) (m) (km) (m) (m)

1 St Jean-Pied-de-Port Roncesvalles 28 1106 345 27.5 961 200 50

2 Roncesvalles Pamplona 42.5 491 982 46.5 316 807 58

3 Pamplona Estella 45 814 848 48.5 704 738 69

4 Estella Logroño 48.5 863 904 46 660 701 81

5 Logroño Santo Domingo de la Calzada 50 797 540 49.5 623 366 93

6 Santo Domingo de la Calzada Villafranca Montes de Oca 34 579 274 33.5 540 235 105

7 Villafranca Montes de Oca Burgos 38.5 406 493 36 292 379 113

8 Burgos Castrojeriz 40 327 368 51.5 376 417 123

9 Castrojeriz Carrión de los Condes 43.5 323 301 45 232 210 132

10 Carrión de los Condes Sahagún 39 216 219 42 233 236 141

11 Sahagún León 55 258 253 54.5 253 248 148

12 León Astorga 47.5 346 316 48 325 295 160

13 Astorga Ponferrada 54 824 1150 54.5 801 1127 172

14 Ponferrada O Cebreiro 53 1046 285 54.5 988 227 182

15 O Cebreiro Sarria 38 611 1479 44.5 373 1241 194

16 Sarria Palas de Rei 47 943 827 47.5 914 798 203

17 Palas de Rei Arzúa 28 431 595 29.5 460 624 213

18 Arzúa Santiago de Compostela 38.5 739 869 39 566 696 221

Total St Jean-Pied-de-Port Santiago de Compostela 770km 11,120m 11,048m 798km 9617m 9545m

10 11  Cycling the Camino de Santiago

INTRODUCTION

Navarrete in the Rioja wine region has 11 bodegas (wineries) (Stage 5)

When a ninth-century Galician shep- dangerous animals, thieves and pol- herd found the long-buried body of luted drinking water to gain absolu- the Apostle James in a remote cor- tion from their sins by touching what ner of north-west Spain, he could believers claim to be the tomb of not have envisaged that his discov- Santiago (St James), a disciple of Jesus ery would lead to a huge pilgrimage Christ. When they reached Santiago, with hundreds of thousands of people they had to turn around and retrace making their way every year across the hazardous journey. They could Europe to visit his find – or that this be away from home for up to a year, pilgrimage would witness not one but with no way of contacting family and two periods of popularity, with 500 friends. Significant numbers would years between them. The first pilgrim- never return home, some dying en- age, which ran between the ninth and route and others settling down for a sixteenth centuries was a hard jour- new life in northern Spain. ney. Medieval peregrinos (pilgrims) The journey is much easier for would travel thousands of kilometres modern pilgrims. They can travel in The kindly image of Santiago Peregrino over the Door to Santiago with no maps or guides, weatherproof clothing on well-way- of Pardon in Santiago cathedral (Stage 18) in basic clothing, braving the weather, marked trails, drinking safely from

12 13 Cycling the Camino de Santiago History countless drinking fountains that are pilgrims either walked or travelled on a generally east–west trajectory, south ancient city centres. The appetite is tested frequently to guarantee water horseback. Modern pilgrims still walk, of and parallel with the Cantabrian catered for too, with a wide variety purity, with neither wolf, bear nor but very few use a horse. Those that mountains. Beyond the Pyrenees the of local foods accompanied by good- robber in sight. Every night they can do ride nowadays favour a bicycle trail undulates through Navarre then quality wine. In summary, the Camino stay in basic but comfortable alber- and take approximately two weeks to crosses the wine-producing region of has something for everyone. ¡Buen gues (pilgrim hostels) and consume complete the journey across northern Rioja. After steadily ascending then Camino! (have a good journey). good-value filling food and wine from Spain from St Jean to Santiago and it descending into Burgos, the route pilgrim menus in a wide choice of res- is for these cycling pilgrims that this reaches and crosses the northern tip of taurants. They can use mobile phones guide has been written. the meseta, a vast area of rolling high- HISTORY to call home every night and post There is more than one pilgrim level chalk downland that occupies The earliest known inhabitants online pictures of themselves on their route to Santiago, but the most popu- much of central Spain. After León, of northern Spain (from around journey. When they reach Santiago, lar in medieval times and again today the forested Montes de León and fer- 800,000bc) were pre-hominids and they can fly home effortlessly in a few is the Camino Francés, named for the tile Bierzo basin are crossed before Neanderthals, whose remains have hours. large number of French pilgrims who the rolling green hills and valleys of been discovered at Atapuerca near The degree of hardship may have followed this route. Pilgrims started Galicia are reached. The Camino ends Burgos (Stage 7). Later, successive changed, but the journey is still one at many points throughout France or at the great religious city of Santiago waves of Stone Age, Bronze Age and of discovery, both of new places and further afield, using different routes de Compostela, where the tomb of St Iron Age civilisations arrived from of the inner self. The route followed that converged upon St Jean-Pied- James housed inside an 11th-century Central Asia via western Europe. The may have altered slightly but it still de-Port at the foot of the lowest and cathedral is the ultimate destination of last of these were Indo-European has the same name, El Camino de easiest pass over the Pyrenees into the pilgrimage. speaking Celtic tribes who arrived in Santiago (The Way of St James) or Spain. Their approximately 800km The Camino is not just a two- Spain during the sixth century bc. usually just ‘The Camino’. Medieval route from St Jean to Santiago follows week ride through northern Spain. About half of walking peregrinos Roman civilisation (218bc–ad439) make the pilgrimage for religious The Romans came to Spain in reasons. For them the journey can 218bc, initially to conquer the become a voyage of self-discovery Carthaginians who had settled along with the opportunity to meet and talk the Mediterranean coast. From here to like-minded believers, visit and Roman control spread slowly north perhaps take communion in ancient and west in campaigns against Celtic churches and cathedrals, while hav- tribes but it was not until 19bc that all ing time to contemplate the spiritual of Iberia came under Roman rule. The side of their lives. Others, including Romans involved local tribal lead- many cyclists, make the journey for ers in government and control of the exercise and recreation. For them territory. With an improved stand- the challenge is to successfully cycle ard of living, the conquered tribes 800km including traverses of the soon became thoroughly roman- Pyrenees and the Montes de León. Yet ised. Indeed, the Roman province of more are attracted by the cultural side Hispania became an important part of Rich medieval pilgrims travelled on horseback, of the Camino, seeking to visit stun- the Roman Empire, with three emper- nowadays only a handful use animal power (Stage 5) ning cathedrals, historic abbeys and ors being born there: Trajan (ruled

14 15 Cycling the Camino de Santiago History

ad585, when they conquered Galicia, The small independent kingdom they controlled all of Iberia apart of Asturias, on the north coast, became from the Basque country, Asturias and the focus of resistance to Moorish Cantabria on the north coast. occupation. In ad722, a Moorish army confronted a small Asturian Moorish invasion (ad711–22) force led by Don Pelayo occupying From ad618, when the prophet a narrow gorge at Covadonga in the Mohamed fled from Mecca to Cantabrian mountains. Here, against Medina, Islam spread rapidly through all odds, the Moors suffered their the Middle East and along the north first defeat in Spain. This Asturian African coast, arriving in what is now victory is regarded as the beginning Morocco by the end of the seventh of a Christian fightback against the century. In ad711, the Moorish army Moors which became known as the of the Umayyad Caliphate crossed Reconquista (Reconquest). the Strait of Gibraltar and invaded southern Spain where they defeated The Reconquista (ad722–1492) Castromaior castle was an Iron Age camp later used by the Romans (Stage 16) a Visigoth army at the Battle of Other victories followed with Guadalete. King Roderic and many the boundaries of Asturias being ad98–117), Hadrian (ad117–38) and moved on into Hispania. Roman rule nobles were killed, leaving Spain extended slowly west into Galicia, Marcus Aurelius (ad161–80). The VII ended in ad439 with the Romans with no army and no leadership. This east into Cantabria and south over legion was settled in Legio (León, allowing the Christian and partly allowed the Moors to capture much of the Cantabrian mountains into León. Stage 11) while nearby gold mines romanised Visigoths to take control of the country unopposed. Christian legend tells of a victory at made Asturica Augusta (Astorga, most of Spain after a brief interlude of Stage 12) a rich and prosperous town. Suevi (Swabian) rule. San Juan de Ortega monastery church (Stage 7) Roads were built linking cities across Iberia, including one across north- Visigoths (ad439–711) ern Spain, south of the Cantabrian Despite consolidating power by mountains from Pompaelo (Pamplona, defeating other Germanic tribes and Stage 2) to Brigantum (near Coruña) inheriting the well-established levers via León and Astorga that 1000 years of Roman rule, Visigoth rulers did not later would be partly followed by the have the same grip on power that their Camino. The Romans knew this as Via predecessors held. Internal disputes Lactea (Milky Way) as it was said to were common with periodic civil wars, follow the stars to Finis Terrae (the end assassinations, usurpations of power of the world) on the Atlantic coast of and free-roaming warlords all desta- Galicia. bilising the state. Like other civilisa- During the fifth century ad, the tions of the Dark Ages, the Visigoths Romans came under increasing pres- left little in the way of architecture or sure from Germanic tribes from the art and few written documents, result- east who invaded Gaul (France) and ing in the soubriquet ‘invisigoths’. After

16 17 Cycling the Camino de Santiago D15 Stage 1 – St Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles D918 Ispoure STAGE 1 Ascarat St Jean-Pied D933 Anhaux -de-Port St Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles N Uhart- Cize Lasse

Start St Jean-Pied-de-Port, office of Les Amis du Chemin de St N 0 1 2 y i u v Jacques (187m) km g e é rn Çaro Finish Roncesvalles abbey (948m) A Distance 28km; road route 27.5km Munhoa FRANCE Ascent 1106m; road route 961m Descent 345m; road route 200m 1021m St Michel

481m 3 3

9 - Honto There is a choice of three routes to reach Puerto de Ibañeta. The most popular D for walkers is the route Napoléon via col Lepoeder (1450m). This has a long, Mataria very steep road ascent (reaching a maximum gradient of 25 per cent), while Venta Peio Munho 812m Bizkar the upper section, although less steep, is off-road on rough or grassy tracks. It Adarza is suitable only for very experienced mountain-bikers and then only in good 656m weather. The lower less steep route via Valcarlos and the Ibañeta pass (1057m) Arnegúy has two variants, a walking route and a cycling route. The lower part of the SPAIN 135 walking route, which follows quiet roads as far as Valcarlos, is passable by all - N cyclists but the upper section on steep woodland paths is not recommended. The camino route described below follows the walking route to Valcarlos Ondarolle Valcarlos then joins the road route over the pass, while the road route is on the well-surfaced pass road throughout. From Puerto de Ibañeta, both routes Itxas Hegi follow the main road descending slightly to Roncesvalles abbey. 1161m

y b Beillurti u rz FRANCE A 1114m D

9 1 C 8 h Getting to the start e 1209m m Ispoure in From front of St Jean-Pied-de-Port

d

' U Gañecoleta g station (157m), follow Rue de la a St Jean-Pied- n g Laurhibar e de-Port Gare E, then fork R (Ave Renaud, sp y u g é N Accueil des Pèlerins). Ave Renaud Leizeaundi n iiv r e Urkulugibela A is one-way street with contra-flow map continues Mendiguren 1179m 35 on page 54 R Leitzarateka cycling permitted. Bear L to reach -1 1338m Uhart-Cize D Assomption o N u 4 t 0 e 1 T-junction. Turn L and immediately 1414m Urkulu d e SPAIN

Ç R (Pl du Trinquet) on ramp back a 33 r 1423m D9 o beside main road. Turn L (Rue de Txangoa 03 D4 50 51 Cycling the Camino de Santiago Stage 1 – St Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles

(actually medieval and restored in 1634) and passes through the Porte d’Espagne gate. Beside the bridge the Church of the Assumption and neigh-

m St Jean-Pied-de-PortArnéguyValcarlos Roncesvalles bouring houses with wooden balconies overhanging the river are much pho- 1250 tographed. Above the town, the Mendiguren citadelle first built in the 12th 1000 century as a castle for the kings of Navarre was extended and strengthened

750 in the 17th century by the French military engineer Vauban. There are walks along the ramparts but the fortress is occupied by a college and cannot be 500 visited. 250

0 The streets in 0 5 10 15 20 25 30km cobbled Rue de la Citadelle back downhill through the old town are old town past Church of the Assumption L and over pedestrian only from France) through city walls into old town to reach river Nive, then ascend to reach Porte d’Espagne gate. 11.30 to 18.30. T-junction.3Turn L steeply uphill (cobbles) to soon Continue ahead (D301, sp St Michel) for 100 metres reach office L of Les Amis du Chemin de St Jacques at 39 then turn R (D381, Ch de Mayorga) climbing out of town From St Jean until Rue de la Citadelle (0.7km, 187m). through Uhart-Cize. the border the Emerge onto main road (D933) and bear L. After 700 route is waymarked Camino route metres pass house 33 on L then fork R and cross river as ‘Chemin de St 3From Les Amis du Chemin de St Jacques in St Jean- Arnéguy.Bear L at T-junction then go ahead over The road route Jacques’ (French for Pied-de-Port (accommodation, albergue, refreshments, small crossroads. Fork sharply L at T-junction, winding continues ahead Camino de Santiago). camping, tourist office, cycle shop, station), follow through fields. Fork L downhill at next road junction. Pass on the D933. between buildings of Mespia farm and after 100 metres ST JEAN-PIED-DE-PORT fork R uphill through woods. At next junction fork L St Jean-Pied-de-Port downhill and pass Carricaburia farm R. Continue through The former duty-free (pop 1500) is a medieval woods with short gravel section where road crosses shopping complex walled town stretching unmarked Franco-Spanish border to reach carpark of of Venta Peio is in 4 along one main street Venta Peio (refreshments). Continue past shops, then Spanish territory that is the route of the bear R on red asphalt strip past service station (do not and attracts French Chemin de St Jacques. cross river) and follow winding track through woods to customers with lower At the north end of town, Arnéguy (8.5km, 256m) (accommodation, refreshments). Spanish prices. the Chemin enters via the In centre of village drop down L on concrete ramp Porte St Jacques gate then then dogleg L and R across main road and follow road passes many attractive bearing L over river Arnéguy, re-entering France. Turn R old houses built in grey, (D128, sp Ondarolle) uphill between wall of open fron- Rue de la Citadelle is lined with old houses pink or red sandstone ton (Basque pelota court) R and church L. At end of vil- and decorated with carvings showing the names and occupations of former lage fork R, following lower road (D128) ascending gen- residents. It leaves by crossing the river Nive on a so-called Roman bridge tly above E side of river Luzaide. Pass through Ondarolle hamlet with Valcarlos on R bank, then fork R descend- ing steeply. At bottom turn half-R on winding lane and

52 53 35 -1 Cycling the Camino de Santiago N Stage 1 – St Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles 1279m 1414m N SPAIN Txangoa The Roland stone on the Ibañeta pass 1471m commemorates the Battle of Roncevaux Astobizkar 0 1 2 1230m San blew a sacred horn (the Oliphant) to sum- km Salvador 1499m Lindus N Ronceveaux mon help but this arrived too late. Roland -1

3 (AD778)

5 5 5 became a cult-hero figure and model for Orzanzurieta 1218m Col chivalric knights for many centuries. The Lepoeder 1567m Girizu Don 1450m Song of Roland, which describes the bat- Simón tle, was sung by medieval French pilgrims 1279m 1156m along the way. Written by an anonymous Puerto de Ibañeta Roncesvalles 1057m French 11th-century poet, it is regarded as Mendiaundi the oldest known literary work in French. A 1213m memorial stone (erected 1967) commemo- rates Roland. The chapel of San Salvador and the summit cross are also 1960s’ descend to cross river on narrow bridge (crossing border additions. for final time) then ascend very steeply to reach main The road route road in centre of Valcarlos (11.5km, 367m) (accommo- rejoins here. dation, albergue, refreshments).3 From summit, follow main road downhill round Turn L (N-135) and follow road ascending steadily another hairpin to soon reach Roncesvalles abbey (28km, through forest for 14km with views down into Luzaide 948m) (accommodation, albergue, refreshments, tourist valley L and up to Ibañeta pass high ahead. Cycle round office). seven hairpin bends to reach summit at Puerto de Ibañeta (26.5km, 1057m).

THE BATTLE OF RONCEVAUX The Ibañeta pass (1057m), one of the lowest crossing points of the Pyrenees, is claimed to be the site of the Battle of Roncevaux (ad778). Here, as Charlemagne’s Frankish army was returning to France after the siege of Zaragoza, its rear-guard was attacked by Basque guerrillas in retaliation for the destruction of the Basque capital Pamplona. All 3000 soldiers were killed, including the commander Roland. However, this delaying action enabled the rest of the army to escape unscathed to France. Subsequent legends have grown around these events, many of which describe it as a battle between Christian and Muslim forces (most of Spain including Zaragoza was under Moorish Muslim control) although the Basques were not Moors. It was claimed that the Franks were attacked by 400,000 Saracens and that Roland Roncesvalles abbey has been providing pilgrim accommodation since the 13th century

54 55 Cycling the Camino de Santiago Stage 1 – St Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles

Roncesvalles Augustinian abbey dates from the 13th century when the first buildings and the collegiate church were built on the orders of King Sancho VII of Navarre, who is buried in the chapter house. The museum and library hold religious and secular items together with items associated with Charlemagne and the legend of Roland. The monastery has a long history of providing accommodation and refresh- ments for pilgrims, reflected in numerous additions to the original core buildings. A pilgrim mass is held in the abbey church every evening.

Road route From Les Amis du Chemin de St Jacques, follow cob- bled Rue de la Citadelle back downhill through old town past Church of the Assumption L and over river Nive, then ascend to reach Porte d’Espagne gate. Continue ahead (D301, sp St Michel) for 100 metres then turn R (D381, Ch de Mayorga) climbing out of town through Uhart-Cize. Valcarlos (11km, 367m) (accommodation, albergue, Venta Peio duty-free Emerge onto main road (D933) and bear L, at refreshments). shopping complex first descending slightly then ascending gently. Pass Continue on road (N-135) ascending steadily through on the Spanish Venta Peio shopping complex (refreshments) on oppo- forest for 14km with views down into Luzaide valley L side of the French- site bank of river R. Continue on main road through and up to Ibañeta pass high ahead. Cycle round seven Spanish border Arnéguy (8km, 256m) (accommodation, refreshments), hairpin bends to reach summit at Puerto de Ibañeta where Franco-Spanish border is crossed, to reach (26km, 1057m). From summit, follow main road down- hill round another hairpin to soon reach Roncesvalles abbey (27.5km, 948m) (accommodation, albergue, refreshments, tourist office).

m St Jean-Pied-de-PortArnéguyValcarlos Roncesvalles 1250

1000

750

500

250

0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30km

56 57